Huawei Set for Boost from UK After Decisions on Arm and 5G

 

If there was any sign that things were getting better for Huawei, it was clear when EE Times documented last month that executives from Arm, Arm China and HiSilicon (Huawei’s chip division) met behind closed doors in Shenzhen, to reassure the Chinese media and local electronics industry of their ongoing cooperation.  

 

Under the current guidelines Arm cannot license any U.S. origin intellectual property (IP) to HiSilicon unless granted an export license by the U.S. Commerce Department, or it has been determined the IP is not of U.S. origin.

 

Now it appears that, after an in-depth review, Arm has decided that its Armv8-A architecture, together with the next generation of that architecture, are of UK origin. Therefore, an Arm spokesperson confirmed to EE Times that Arm can provide support to HiSilicon for those certain architectures. She added, “Arm has communicated this to the appropriate U.S. government offices, and we continue to be in compliance with the U.S. Commerce Department guidelines, respective to Huawei and its affiliate HiSilicon.”

 

5G green light expected

 

In a completely separate development, the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper documented yesterday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to endorse his predecessor’s decision to give Huawei access to the non-contentious parts of the 5G network. The main reason quoted is that the west doesn't have a good alternative for Huawei technology, which signifies it would be left behind if it doesn’t use Huawei. One senior government source is quoted in the Sunday Times as saying, “The reality is that if you don’t say yes, you don’t have alternatives. The West has screwed up by allowing Huawei to develop a near-monopoly in this area.”

 

Earlier this year, the chair of British Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee, the Rt. Hon. Norman Lamb, said, “The benefits of 5G are clear and the removal of Huawei from the current or future networks could cause significant delays.” As we reported, the issues were around ethics and politics rather than the technological one. Lamb highlighted that supply chains for telecommunications networks were global and complex, so a ban on Huawei equipment wouldn't normally take out potential Chinese influence from the supply chain. He also said it would probably maximize security vulnerability by reducing competition. Lamb also emphasized that his conclusion that Huawei must not be wholly excluded from the UK’s 5G networks is built only on technical considerations, not geo-political.

 

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